It's a sign of the times

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Train station display panels have a hard life, whether rattled
by icy winds, baked in summer heat, or soaked by rainstorms. Not
the best environment for sensitive electronics.

So it might come as a surprise that the same display technology
that for just under a year has been carried about in the safe and
snug environment of travel bags and briefcases will soon find its
way on to railway platforms.

Electronic paper technologies have given rise to a new
generation of displays that according to US-based E Ink Corporation
feature improved contrast and, most importantly, more efficient
power consumption than any other type of screen available.

Developed in co-operation with Sony and other partners, the
manufacturer's first product, the Librie, has thus far been
available only in stores in Japan. This electronic reading device
with a paperback-style form factor can store the contents of
several thousand pages of text, yet is still small and easy to
operate.

Now there are plans to let this diminutive electronic paperback
grow into a much larger suit: weather-resistant advertisement and
railway station display panels.

The driving force behind this new development is Vossloh
Information Technologies GmbH, a leading provider of railway
systems technology in Europe.

The Kiel-based company has much experience in the development of
information and communication technology for transport
companies.

Among its products are passenger information systems. The
Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM in
Berlin is an important research and development partner for
Vossloh.

The electronic paper display uses a type of ink, a liquid that
contains millions of tiny transparent microcapsules that are only
about as thick as a human hair.

Each microcapsule is filled with positively-charged white
particles and negatively-charged black particles. When a voltage is
applied, the black particles in the capsule migrate to the positive
pole, the white particles to the negative. This effect is used to
generate the characters on the display screen, which consists of a
multi-layer sandwich assembly.

The topmost layer is a protective plastic surface; underneath
that is a transparent flat electrode made of ITO (indium-tin
oxide), a material used in semiconductors. A thin layer of the
microcapsule medium is printed onto this electrode.

An adhesive layer and a thin circuit board with conductor paths
to provide an opposing electrode to the ITO layer round out the
assembly.

The electric field generated by the device allows the particles
to be moved back and forth. The black or white particles at the
plastic surface are shaped into letters and symbols by the action
of the electrodes. The characters are as readable as those on
printed paper, even in less than favourable lighting
conditions.

The first display board prototype has been successfully
operating in test mode at Berlin's Ostbahnhof since May 2004. In
May 2005, Vossloh plans to begin series production.

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